Logical plan
Sir: David Damant (Letters, 21 June), despite an exhaustive knowledge of Ger- man history, continues to assert that the Schlieffen Plan was a 'gambler's throw'. Is it perhaps he who amuses himself at the expense of my poor soul?
As a student of logic, I would have thought he would acknowledge that the German General Staff represented the very antithesis of the 'gambler mentality'. In fact, can there have been any other Euro- pean institution where logic reigned so supreme? The Schlieffen Plan represents the zenith of the logical approach.
Whatever the influence German philoso- phers had on Herr Hitler and his Austro- Bavarian disciples, with the sole exception of von Bernhardt, they made little impact on the upper echelons of the General Staff. Their appeal lay, as David Damant quite correctly states, with the 'liberal and mer- cantile classes' who have always been attracted by this sort of nectar. 'Manic' nationalism, was of course just as prevalent in Great Britain and France at this time.
If David Damant objects to the word hegemony to describe the position of Ger- many in Europe, perhaps he would settle for 'first among equals'. However, by 1999 this will be an inadequate description. My remark 'Kohl has triumphed etc.' was, I agree, somewhat provocative. My point was that the German of today can afford the luxury of a tolerant, liberal out- look, devoid of military anxiety, solely because Germany (by sheer hard work and American generosity) has broken free from the threat of 'encirclement'.
Alice von Schlieffen
57 Great Cumberland Place, London W1
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